Creating a Folio (In this lesson, you create either a photo essay or a folio as a major project)

How to Photograph Water
Photographing water is a little different to most other types of photography because of the way water and light interacts. Water photography can be both challenging and diverse, and offers more possibilities than what you might think of. Consider photographing a water droplet, pouring from a jug, rapids in a river, waves in an ocean, reflections on still water, rain, fog, splashing, bubbles, spray from a garden sprinkler, melting ice, snow, or underwater photography.

When light moves from water to air, or vice versa, it can change, just as it changes when it moves through the surface of a lens.
Water can bounce light off in sometimes unpredictable directions, and when the water is moving, things can get even more complicated. Photographing water is not all bad though, by any means. These same characteristics that make water difficult to photograph, also provide possibilities for creating images that might never be created, when photographing other subjects.

General Tips

Protect the camera from getting wet; unless it is an underwater camera

Keep water drops off the lens, as they can distort the image uncontrollably

Be careful of extremes in reflective light (e.g. sunlight bouncing off water can be so bright as to distort the clarity and lines in a photo)

Tips for Photographing Moving Water
Choose the subject purposefully, consider the objects (rocks, animals, people structures) that surround the water (both animate and inanimate), time of day (and light conditions) and the affect you want to achieve.

Possible subjects may be a waterfall, rapids in a watercourse, a fountain, ocean waves, ripples on a pond, fountains or water running from a tap.

Use a slow shutter speed (e.g. 0.5 to 2 seconds) with a camera mounted on a tripod to create a blur in the moving water while retaining sharpness in surrounding inanimate objects.

Use fast shutter speeds to catch a clear image of moving water

If a shutter is open for a longer period, use a timer or remote trigger so you do not cause any movement to the camera when shooting.

Be careful to avoid overexposure. When you have greater contrast in light (bright reflective water to dark surrounding plants or rocks); over exposure is a great risk. A neutral density filter is a common solution to minimize this problem.

Tips for Photographing a Water Droplet

Keep lighting subdued, and use a flash, so the exposure is regulated by the flash rather than other light sources.

Stage a photo with a camera on a tripod; keep it far enough away from the drop, to avoid any chance of water splashing on the lens.

Choose an appropriate droplet source (rain can have a great depth of field and can be difficult to focus on, while a dripping tap can have a measurable focal length. If photographing a dripping tap, hold a solid object in front of the camera directly below the tap, to set focus, before shooting.

A 200 mm lens is a good choice

Experiment with different types of drops and different sources (e.g. coloured liquids like soft drink or milk), clear liquids, different viscosities (e.g. oil, glycerine, water)

Shoot from a tripod, using fast shutter speeds, to capture the falling droplet

Photographing Reflections
A mirrored reflection is best photographed when the water is at its stillest and sunlight is not directly hitting the water. A good time to get such photos is early morning or late afternoon, or when trees or buildings beside the water are casting a shadow over the water